Dear Diary

Often, the film-maker seems to be on a journey without a destination, perhaps without a script. Occasionally, brilliantly, he goes entirely off the rails. Read full review

As an auteur film, Nanni Moretti’s Caro Diario inhabits a kind of beyond, because instead of presenting a world filtered through his subjective lens, the filmmaker allows the viewer inside his very subjectivity. Read full review

Moretti weaves us in and out of high seriousness, crazy satire or sarcasm, political commentary, melancholy reverie and goofball japes. And though Moretti lacks the cartoonish physical presence of a Benigni or a Nichetti (or a Woody Allen) his unextraordinary demeanor-tall, bespectacled, lightly athletic, trim-bearded-fools you again. [25 Nov 1994, p.L]

This mock-documentary look at one man's allegorical tour of Italy is a whimsical, intelligent antidote to big-budget Hollywood formula bloat. [18 Nov 1994, p.15]

As both a skillful director and a lovable oddball, [Moretti] commands interest. It's easy to follow him anywhere. Read full review

After spending time with Moretti during the course of this movie, one discovers that he makes an interesting and entertaining companion. Read full review

What ties all this material together is the force and humor of Moretti’s eclectic personality. Read full review

This comic travelogue is like a “Manhattan” era Woody Allen starring in an Italian/Roman version of Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” — droll, scenic and adorable. Read full review

Although Moretti's deadpan delivery and his film's relaxed pacing may be too unemphatic for some, those on his wavelength will be delighted. If you like this sort of comedy, treat yourself to Caro Diario. [09 Dec 1994, p.34]

Charting a life in transit and barely sidestepping a tragic journey's end, CARO DIARIO proves that you never really know people until you travel with them. Read full review

This light-toned but thematically substantial autofiction is organized like a sequence of diary entries brought to life with Moretti’s wryly confessional voice-overs. Read full review

Relaxed and leisurely, it's an effortless blend of documentary and fiction, part road movie, part sociological satire, part polemical reminiscence. Read full review

Offering intimate self-exposure, Moretti solders his bond with fortysomethings who have lived through years of political disenchantment. Read full review

Caro Diario is an alternately charming and unsettling mood piece that communicates well the offbeat world view of a self-confessed '60s-style rebel. [21 Oct 1994]

This is one of those curious films before which the viewer is struck dumb. To describe it is to question and praise it - at one and the same time. I enjoyed the time I spent with Moretti, much as I might enjoy sitting next to an interesting stranger on an airplane, and hearing about his life. Read full review

Even at its least successful, Caro Diario is always watchable. Read full review

It's a small, amusing movie that's long on charming affability. [03 Feb 1995]

There are moments that sparkle, but the whole is not a worthy sum of its parts, and, while much of what Moretti does is interesting, that doesn't mean that it's enjoyable. Read full review

As a celebration of ephemera, the movie is a mixed bag, sometimes hilarious, sometimes tiresome. Read full review

This single joke rapidly gets pretty tired; you soon wish you could tell Moretti to try slapping on some calamine lotion--and getting on with his life. But stringing us along--with varying effectiveness-- is his life. Read full review

More self-mockery is needed, less self-regard. [07 Apr 1995, p.90]

It may take more than Caro Diario for Americans to acquire the Moretti taste. [21 Oct 1994, p.H42]